A bottle opener uses a point on the bottle cap as a fulcrum on which to pivot, acting as a lever with an edge applying force under one side of the bottle cap to pry the bottle cap off the top portion of the bottle. One problem associated with bottle openers is, whether due to misplacement of a bottle opener, theft, or lack of forethought, a bottle opener is often not in close proximity when it is needed. Consequently, many people have resorted to a variety of less effective and potentially dangerous methods to remove a bottle cap from a bottle, including for example: using scissors to cut under the ridges of a bottle cap; pushing the cap against the recessed coin return part of a vending machine; wrapping a rubber band around the edges of the cap and twisting hard; or otherwise trying to pry under the bottle cap using various objects (such as a spoon, knife, fork, belt buckle, ice skates, car seat belt latches, metal nail clippers, a peeler, a hammer, a staple remover, a non-gold wedding ring, a screwdriver, or even the cap attached to another bottle). Such alternate devices for removing a cap from a bottle may have prompted the different forms that bottle openers have taken in recent years (probably beginning in the 1980s) such as a baseball cap with bottle opener in the visor, a sole of a flip flop, a surfboard shape, or shapes representing different sports, a guitar, or a cowboy boot.
Even when a bottle opener is available but not in close proximity, having to obtain the bottle opener may be inconvenient, especially when this requires interrupting an engaging conversation, watching an exciting game or movie, or other activity, which may require having to get up from a comfortable sedentary position. Perhaps for these reasons, some devices have been created to combine a bottle opener with other presumably-useful objects, such as insulated beverage containers and even some coasters.
Opportunities exist for improving bottle opening devices and methods that address these and other issues.